Thinking Pink

FINALLY! I have been planning this tote for nearly a year now - and it is finally done and delivered to it's new owner.

First a little back story - I was at work one Saturday last winter, when I am usually the only one in the office. A co-worker was there, and as I was leaving for the day we were chatting about her nice new HUGE canvas tote bag with our school logo on it. She knows I love totes, and ended up giving me the bag, as she found it too big for her tastes.

What were her tastes? - I asked. Well, she had this old canvas tote with threadbare handles that she had been trying to replace, but could not find one in the same size/strap proportions.

Knowing her fondness for flamingos, my creative wheels started turning, and I told her I would only accept the big tote if she let me replicate/replace the little one. Then I started the hunt for the perfect flamingo fabric, which was found somewhere down south by my Lazy Sister Sue.

Well, it finally happened (despite the Munchkin's "help"). It is a bit smaller, and has a few different features than her old one, but it is done and hanging on her door knob.

And just for some extra fun, I tucked in a WonderWallet and Checkbook Cover from Lazy Girl Designs, and a petal pouch from a pattern that Lazy Sister Sue shared with me.




I am just waiting to hear the squeals from down the hall.

I am such a "cut up"...

This picture could have been me yesterday - well minus the manicure and the clean workspace - and using a different brand of rotary cutter -but you get the idea. I spent my "Mommy Time" while the munchkin was napping cutting out the fabric for 2 different quilts -one with dragons and one with monkeys!


I 'think' I have them all cut out and ready to assemble - in my usual style these are BOTH "make it up as you go along" patterns - which makes the mistakes less evident but the design more time consuming. The dragon needs to be shipped to SC, so will be the first one completed. The monkeys can wait until Christmas Eve (although I will kick myself if I wait that long to get them done) but there are some intervening projects that also need to get shipped, so it is on hold at the moment. The "cut and ready to go" pile is actually bigger than just these 2 projects, so now I just need some machine time.

Ahh - Thanksgiving Break - here's hoping it is productive!

Sparklies...

My munchkin calls my jewelery "sparklies" - and he would have enjoyed these creations from the 5 ladies who just finished up my 2 part "Beginning Jewelery Making" class at the Churchville Chili Continuing Education program.






This is the second time I have taught this 2 part class - they make earrings, a memory wire bracelet, and a necklace. I buy a selection of coordinating beads, but they put their own designs together. Two ladies went for the leftover sage and purples from the last class in the spring, rather than the black/silver/red that I chose for this pre-holiday season class. And surprisingly no-one went for the dangly silver swirls with the black bead inside them. I will have to figure out my own design with those.

the "after" picture

10:00 at night, the toddler is FINALLY down for the count, DH is not home, and I need a picture of my new "do" before I fall asleep on the couch.

What's a girl to do?

So I grabbed the cell phone - and this is the resulting self portrait. Not the best photo I have ever taken, but it gives you an idea of my new "do".


This was hairdresser styled -so a bit poofier than I normally wear it, but I am loving how easy it is to scrunch and dry and go and get nice bouncy curl.

Yay!

A Helping Haircut

Today I had my hair cut. I have not had it cut - other than trims - since I found out I was pregnant with my son in June 2004, and it was the longest it had been since I was in grade school.

I was getting frustrated with it, though. It was up or back, or in the way, or getting cleaned out of the drain or swept up - you get the idea.

I wanted to donate it but did not quite have enough for Locks of Love without going extremely short - but recently read an article about Oprah cutting Hilary Swank's hair for donation - and it was a different program. It is sponsored by Pantene, and makes wigs for adults. They only need 8 inches, which I had - and it left some over to give me a nice bob.

Since Mom is a cancer survivor, I felt really good about making this donation. And I LOVE my new cut! (picture to come later - I promise)

Here is the information on the program if anyone is interested: Pantene's Beautiful Lenghts

eCrafting

Unfortunately the day job means that I spend more time in front of my computer than in front of my sewing machine, and more time in the office than in my "studio"... but the side effect is that I have become a master of finding patterns and ideas online (free or otherwise), sharing ideas with others working on similar projects (Thanks Lazy Girls and Lazy Sister Sue), and shopping for supplies... and more supplies... and more supplies (can you sense a weakness here???)

One of the new resources is all the blogs that wonderful artists and crafters and pattern designers have out there. One that was just shared with me is Sew Mama Sew - and here is a crafter after my own heart. The theme for November is "Handmade Holidays, 30 Days of Gifts to Sew! Every day there will be tips, tutorials and free patterns!

For quilters out there - my Lazy Sister Sue just pointed me to Quiltville - which is a website of a member of her quilt guild. Wonderful patterns - and her accompanying blog is inspirational reading also.

These are just a couple of the crafting blogs among ones I follow on a regular basis - what do YOU read???